Keach Hagey at the Wall Street Journal, reports that the AllThingsD editorial team may have found its first investor for their unnamed media startup: NBCUniversal.

NBCU May Invest in AllThingsD's Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher - WSJ.com

It's interesting that their employer has scooped the AllThingsD team, which are known for their industry scoops.  The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones is the owner of AllThingsD.  It was the WSJ's managing editor Gerry Baker who broke the news in September about the upcoming end-of-year split with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. 

Here's the scoop on the first investor:

NBCUniversal is close to a deal to take a minority stake in a new company being started by technology journalists Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, say people familiar with the situation.

... Several media companies, including Hearst Corp., have had talks with the pair about investing in the company. Hearst is no longer in talks, people familiar with the matter say....NBCU, which is a unit of Comcast Corp.  owns the NBC broadcast network, as well as CNBC and MSNBC.

Foremski's Take: It must be very tough to try and start a new media venture, plus pitch potential investors, when you still have to work your day job, and for an employer that you will be competing with. Do you keep your best news leads for your new venture? Will they expire by then? How do you find the time to recruit and build a startup? And raise a couple of young kids? Kara Swisher certainly has the energy for it. 

The WSJ scoop is a shot across the bows of the future Swisher/Mossberg venture, it's a deliberate message that says,  "We'll be fine without you, we know how to get scoops."

Ms. Swisher has spoken about plans to greatly expand the production of video content. The NBCU minority investment could provide a large distribution platform.

However, time is running out and we have yet to hear about any majority investors in the Swisher/Mossberg startup.

Please see: Prediction: AllThingsD Name Will Be Retired - Deal Almost Done -SVW